A loyal reader (I do have one or two) pointed out to me that in my earlier post about my introduction to fast food burgers in the old home town, I omitted to mention the formative years of high school, and nights spent in the parking lot of the London Inn, a local burger shack owned by the Andresen family. It was conveniently situated next to the DQ, and the double parking lot served as the prime hang-out for kids from my high school.
If you were lucky enough to get a parking place, you were there for the night, but most people just circled the lot in the course of their evening cruises down London Road, would wave (or gesture as the video indicates) and be on the way to their date or other nefarious event of the evening.
I probably blocked out all memories of this place being as it was the site of my first traffic ticket, the night I left home in the family vehicle, and my dad cautioned “you know what you have to do to get a ticket? NOTHING!”) and to this day he says that’s what I got a ticket for.
I circled the Inn and “peeled out” on London Road, and was followed by a cop cruiser for a couple miles before getting stopped for “careless driving” and given my first ticket. Back in the day, the poleez weren’t so diligent in checking out cars, or the officer would have found the case of Ripple we had in the back.
I pleaded not guilty, but nobody bought my story (LOL) and my license was suspended for three months. The first (and last ) moving violation of my life.
But the real reason we went to the London Inn? The Rings. People in town still get glassy-eyed talking about them, and to this day, are in search of a local suitable substitute. The recipe below is allegedly from one of the Inn’s family members. Looks right to me! If it wasn’t the rings, it was Katy at the Dairy Queen that drew me in.
So here’s the London Inn….. and a shout out to those I recognize in the video – Steve, Jim, Gil………..
London Inn Onion Rings
4 jumbo onions
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 egg
3 teaspoons Lawry’s seasoned salt
1 teaspoon celery salt
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1 teaspoon onion salt
1 pint milk
Peel and slice onions into 1/2 inch thickness. Pop out centers and rings. Put all batter ingredients in mixer bowl and blend thoroughly. [Batter is thicker than pancake mix.] Coat onion slices well. Fry rings until golden brown, salt with Lawry’s seasoned salt.
London Inn Onion Ring Recipe